SPAYING. Spaying is extracting the ovaries of female animals, for the purpose of fattening. If operated on about the season of periodic beat, and when in full flow of milk, spaying prolongs indefinitely the period of giving milk and increases the flow. Thus cows have been known to continue in milk for years, and, of course, without subsequent period of heat. Experi ments with twenty-seven cows varying in age from six to fifteen years, showed an increase in milk of thirty-three per cent. Spaying does not so much depend upon the instruments used, as upon the skill of the operator. It should never be undertaken until the operator first makes himself acquainted with the anatomy of the parts, or until he has had instructions from an experienced operator. Then the operation may be safely performed with a. common knife, a crooked needle, and some waxed silk thread. Yet the regular instruments are better. The cow should be cast, securely fastened, and her head held firmly down by an assistant ; an incision is then to be made through the muscles, skin and peritoneum large enough to admit the hand, which seizing the ovaries, in turn, they are brought up as far as possible, severed, and the wound closed with four or five interrupted sutures; that is the edges of the wound to be brought together, and pierced, through the lips, with a threaded needle, and tied, each stitch separately, and and the ends of the threads left three or four inches long, and the wound properly dressed. If the animal subsequently is irritable and refuses her food, prepare the following drink: two ounces of valerian and tvvo quarts of water; when cool, strain, and add one quart infusion of marsh mallow, and give a pint every two hours. If the wound shows signs of pus, and does not heal kindly, wash with two ounces of pyroligneous acid, in two quarts of water. It is also well to prepare the animal by giving a scalded bran mash every night for a few days before the operation. 31 Morin, a French surgeon, operated as follows: The eyes of the cow are covered, one strong man holds her by the nose and another by the horns. Her hocks are tied together and held by another assistant, who also holds the tail and pulls when the cow attempts to move. Then, says 31. Morin, the cow being conveniently dis posed of, and the instruments and appliances, such as curved scissors, upon a table, a convex edged bistoury, a straight one, and one buttoned at the point, suture needle filled with double thread of desired length, pledgets of lint of appropriate size and length, a mass of tow (in pledgets) being collected in a shallow basket, held by an assistant, we place ourselves opposite to the left flank, our back turned a little toward the head of the animal , Ave cut off the hair which covers the hide in the middle of the flanks, at an equal distance between the back and hip, for the space of thirteen or fourteen centimetres (a centimetre is forty hundreds of an inch), in circumference; this done, we take the convex bistoury, and place it open between our teeth, the edge out, the point to the left; then, with both bands, we seize the hide in the middle of the flank, and form of it a wrinkle of the requi site elevation,and runninglengthwise of the body.
An assistant seizes with his right hand the right side of this wrinkle. We then take the bistoury, and cut the wrinkle at one stroke through the middle; the wrinkle having been suffered to go down, a separation of the hide is presented of sufficient length to enable us to introduce the hand; thereupon we separate the edges of the hide with the thumb and fore finger of the left hand, and, in like manner, we cut through the abdominal muscles, the iliac, (rather obliquely,) and the lumbar, (cross,) for a distance of a centi metre from the lower extremity of the incision first made in the hide; this done. armed with the straight bistoury, we naake a puncture of the peritoneum, at the upper extremity- of the wound ; we then introduce the buttoned bistoury, and we move it obliquely from above to the lower pat t up to the termination of the incisicrn made in the abdominal muscles. The flank being opened. we introduce the right hand into the abdomen, and direct it along the right side of the cavity of the pelvis, behind the paunch and underneath the rectum where we End the horns of the uterus; after we have ascertained the posi tion of these viscera, we search for the ovaries, which are at the extremity of the cornua, or horns, (fallopian tubes,) and when we have found them, we seize them between the thumb and fore finger, detach them completely from the ligaments that keep them in their place, pull lightly, separating the cord, and the vessels (uterine or fallopian tubes) at their place of union with the ovarium, by means of the nails of the thumb and fore finger, which presents itself at the point of touch; in fact, we break the cord, and bring away- the ovarium. Again introduce the hand in the abdominal cavity, and proceed in the same manner to extract the other ovarium. This operation terminated by the assistance of a needle, place a suture of three or four double threads, waxed, at an equal dis tance, and at two centhnetres, or a little less, from the lips of the wound; passing it through the divided tissues, we move from the left hand with the piece of thread; having reached that point, we fasten with a double knot; we place the seam in the intervals of the thread from the right, and as we approach the lips of the wound, we fasten by a simple knot, being careful not to close too tightly the lower part of the seam, so that the suppuration, which may be established in the wound, may be able to escape. The opera tion effected, cover up the wound with a pledget of lint, kept in its place by three or four threads passed through the stitches, and all is completed. It happens, sometimes, that in cutting the mus cles, we cut one or two of the arteries, which bleed so much that there is necessity for a liga ture before opening the peritoneal sac, because, if this precaution be omitted, blood will esetpe into the abdotnen, and may occasion the most serious consequences. The best tirne for spay_ ing cows, with a view of making them perma nent milkers, is between the ages of five and seven, especially if they have had two or three calves. If intended to be fattened for beef, the operation should not be performed until the animal has passed its first year.